Could we have warned our neighbours?

30 December 2004 — 11:00am

Has Australia failed the region? Couldn't a developed country such as Australia have done much more to minimise the impact of the latest disaster in its region, which has taken tens of thousands of lives?

A massive earthquake occurred under the Indian Ocean not far from Australia and was detected by the Australian scientists. But it seems they had no way of warning other nations in the region of the imminent danger (The Age, 28/12).

This is not a great story. Surely something could have been done. There appears to have been ample time - perhaps several hours - to get the news out.

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Even a simple radio announcement in a country such as Sri Lanka would have saved thousands of lives. People there are clever enough to understand what a tsunami is and what it can do. They were caught unawares, sitting along the coastline.

In this age where risk assessment has become a part of life everywhere, it is distressing to note that even countries fully surrounded by the ocean - especially those whose shores lie within reach of undersea earthquakes - have failed to address the risk of tsunamis.

Sadly, Sri Lanka, one of the worst affected, instead has been preoccupied with an internal war.

This failure should be seen in the context that there have been at least four major tsunamis in our region between 1960 and 1998.

A country such as Australia has a much greater contribution to make in areas such as this. It is better to help prevent and alleviate human miseries than to focus attention on and invest money in wars such as that in Iraq.

Radio Australia: missing in action

We are told that Australian and US scientists knew in advance that the tsunamis would hit southern Asia but were unable to raise the alarm. Radio Australia, before a change in government policy in 1996, had amassed a network of communications and social ties among Asian residents.

The drastic reduction in staff and the severing of plans to transmit from the well-placed Cox Peninsula in the Northern Territory diminished Radio Australia's broad and instant reach across much of Asia.

Could this service have provided a warning to Australian and other foreign nationals and local residents who were so tragically caught unawares?

Warning systems should work

As an Australian living overseas and a former worker of the graveyard shift for a national insurance company call centre in Melbourne, I find it hard to believe there was no one to contact in the face of this disaster.

We had emergency protocols and lists available immediately to respond quickly to a local or national disaster. I assume that due to the public holiday there was a skeleton staff working at Geoscience and Emergency Management Australia, though they would have all been qualified to handle the situation.

Emergency telephone numbers for many overseas cities can be easily found on the internet. An excuse of not knowing who to contact in such an international emergency seems insulting to the scientists and workers of our emergency response organisations and to the Australian public. We deserve a better explanation than given so far.

Global warming: more quakes

It is no coincidence that a Richter scale 8.1 earthquake near Macquarie Island between Tasmania and Antarctica was followed just days later by the catastrophic one in the Indian Ocean off the Aceh coast.

Both are on the boundary of the India-Australia tectonic plate, and shocks and stresses from the first would have contributed to the one that followed.

And a factor in the Macquarie Island earthquake would have been the redistribution of load on the planet's crust as Antarctic ice melts due to global warming.

As the climate warms, and more Antarctic ice melts, the countries on the boundary of our plate - New Zealand, New Guinea, Indonesia and southern Asia - can expect more and bigger earthquakes.

Not a time for celebrations

At a time when millions of people in South-East Asia are desperate for food, shelter and medicine, surely it is scandalous to be squandering $750,000 on a New Year's Eve party (The Age, 29/12). This money could make the world of difference to these displaced people.

If the fireworks have already been bought, they could be saved for the Commonwealth Games celebrations and all other entertainment could be cancelled.

Be generous to our neighbours

Tourists can flee the chaos, but millions of people in Australia's closest neighbouring countries are suffering, with dead friends, family members and lost homes. Many face a future of uncertainty as the tsunamis destroyed much of Asia's coastal area, home to much of its tourism industry.

Waiters, bartenders and even taxi drivers will suffer long after the initial impact as Asia rebuilds its tourism industry. It will take months, if not years, for things to return to "normal". Disease will set in as many basic pieces of infrastructure are destroyed.

Let's give our neighbours more than mere sympathy and open our heart and wallets to help them rebuild their future.

Time to give

If such agencies as CARE Australia, Caritas and Oxfam could have authorised collectors at the New Year's Eve parties in central Melbourne, I'm sure people would donate generously to the tsunami victims.

As we celebrate the new year we could contribute to a new life for the survivors.

Stretched capability

Thousands of Australians remain stranded in tsunami-devastated areas and where is the prime of our defence capability? It is stretched to the limit in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries largely at the behest of the United States.

Australians and our Asian neighbours lie dead and injured while our limited resources are being used elsewhere. Even Germany landed a plane in the disaster zone on Monday before the Royal Australian Air Force could muster a single flight crew.

This speaks volumes about the priorities of this country in deploying scarce resources overseas to pursue President Bush's interests.

War costs more

America has offered, at least as a start, a paltry $15 million to victims of tsunami-ravaged Asia, yet it is estimated to spend around $450 billion annually on military expenditure. Australia has offered a mere $10 million, yet spent around $21 billion on defence in 2003.

When will governments learn it is more cost-effective (if nothing else) to spend money on helping, rather than endangering life?

Singled out

Why has it been necessary for all news media to point out that one of the Australian victims of the devastating tsunami in south-east Asia had Down syndrome? This would have had no bearing on his fate, as he apparently was swept away while having breakfast with his parents.

Most of us have some disabilities. Why should a victim of a natural disaster be identified by one defining trait? Surely people have a more complex personality as well as a common humanity.

PNG as source of skilled labor

Recruiting labour from China seems to be a reasonable response to the problem of our present skills shortage (The Age, 21/12). But I wonder if we can recruit closer to home.

Papua New Guinea, Australia's nearest neighbour, has a labour surplus. The advantages in recruiting labour from Papua New Guinea include proximity, language, quality, standards and availability.

English is Papua New Guinea's language of training, education and commerce. PNG training generally follows the Australian TAFE model, and many PNG men and women have undertaken advanced trade training in Australia.

Industry in Papua New Guinea largely follows Australian codes of practice and Australian standards in areas as diverse as construction, workplace safety and electrical distribution.

Although it has a population of 5 million, Papua New Guinea has only around 300,000 people in the formal workforce. There is a surplus of tradesmen and women, despite the major employment opportunities offered in the resources sector.

Also, we share the same sporting interests. What an opportunity.

Let us express our beliefs

Jim Wallace (28/12) reminds us that we do not have freedom if we cannot critically examine our own and others' beliefs, and express our varied beliefs, in agreement and in disagreement.

I hold my Christian beliefs strongly. I debate them enthusiastically with my atheist, agnostic, Orthodox, Catholic, Pentecostal, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and other friends and contacts. I also strongly support their freedom to choose their beliefs.

As much as we may not agree on everything we do agree on one thing, that is that we must all remain free to hold such debates and discussions in a way that neither our freedoms nor our beliefs are diminished.

Who dares restrict those freedoms or dictate where we may or may not discuss them?

What has happened to the Australian freedom that so many fought and died to protect? That includes our freedom of speech and freedom of religious choice. We are all vilified by, and must express our offence at, those who would denigrate the sacrifices that have been made to protect those freedoms.

Minorities need legal protection

In his article "Free speech is the best protection against extremism" (Opinion, 28/12), Jim Wallace demonstrates how out of touch he is with the historical reality of this country.

The Racial and Religious Tolerance Act was introduced to defend the right of minorities to exercise their right to live in peace regardless of their beliefs.

Some of our leading sports bodies realised the importance of introducing a code of conduct forbidding players to use any comments that could be seen as racially divisive or vilifying either on or off the field.

Attacking the Muslim community by implying that some interpret the Koran literally and that by doing so may be linked with terrorism and insinuating that their higher birth rate is an inherent danger is a slur on those communities.

It is similar to the forms of vilification that I and thousands of young migrants of Catholic upbringing copped in the 1960s and '70s - such as accusations of having a higher birthrate than the host population, or supporting the IRA.

One does not have to incite hatred to offend. You can simply make observations and insinuations under the banner of free speech that gradually lay the foundations for an accepted public perception that eventually turns into prejudice. This is what really leads to extremism.

Most Muslims are moderate

The Islamic extremists form a tiny minority out of 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide. The moderate Muslims who form a majority group are caught up between the extreme ideology of Muslim militants and the vilification from the wider Western societies.

Jim Wallace (Opinion, 28/12) fails to comprehend that moderate Muslims' interpretation of the Holy Koran is quite different from that of the militants.

Therefore, free speech may protect against extremism but where does it put the moderate followers of Islam?

What verses?

Congratulations to Jim Wallace (28/12) for his warning on our diminished freedom of religious discussion. I would like to know what were the exact texts of the verses from the Koran that were read out by the pastors.

Surely it is in the best interests of both Christians and Muslims for all the facts to be known. How else can we make an informed judgement on this case?

Pastoral note

It is interesting to note that those within the church who have rushed forward to defend the "vulnerable" victims of vilification often have the title reverend before their name. Those styled pastor, or who are untitled, seem to be on the other side.

Jesus and his followers constituted a grassroots movement. And it is this to which I take great pride in belonging.

Films for kids

Film reviewer Philippa Hawker (A3, 23/12) finds it hard to answer the question frequently put to her by parents: "Is it OK for kids?" She points to several US-based websites that provide detailed content for family-oriented films so that parents can make their own decisions about suitability.

Since July 2002, a national community organisation, Young Media Australia, has been sending reviewers with child development training to all newly released G, PG and some M films (mainly those promoted to a younger audience than the recommended 15 years and over), and places their reviews on our website, along with the Australian classification for additional guidance.

These are very popular with parents and grandparents, and can be accessed either from www.youngmedia.org.au, or from our national freecall helpline, 1800 700 357. It's always wise to know before you go.

No compo for banned scooters

The Bracks Government has banned the on-road use of all petrol-powered motor scooters, amending a regulation that had allowed scooters with a power output of less than 200 watts. This was to make it easier to enforce the ban on the on-road use of higher-powered, so-called monkey bikes and pocket racers.

The change means that thousands of 200-watt scooters in our suburbs can no longer be ridden on roads or bicycle paths. Most owners have normal suburban blocks of land too small to ride the scooters on.

No compensation or buyback scheme has been offered for these previously legal vehicles. These scooters cost up to $2000 each. They cannot be sold because there are no buyers, and they cannot be used. Owners are the victims.